Author(s): Jukka Tuhkuri; Arttu Polojarvi
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Abstract: The geometry, dimensions and the microstructure of freeze bonds effect the properties and numerical modeling of consolidated or partly consolidated ice rubble. However, the detailed knowledge about the geometry and dimensions of freeze bonds is limited. Preliminary results from a study on freeze bond geometry, dimensions and microstructure of first-year ridges is presented. The study is based on the full-scale samples collected during a cruise on Barents Sea in April 2013 and analyzed later in a cold room at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). Our aim on the cruise was to find and analyze freeze bonds formed under water in order to study the freeze bonding of ice rubble forming a full-scale ice ridge keel. The analysis of the samples was performed by photographing the thin sections prepared from them in cross-polarized and normal light. Freeze bonds between layers of columnar ice were found. The ice in the freeze bonds was granular, and it was in many cases more porous than the columnar ice. The boundary between the columnar parent ice and the granular freeze bond ice was not sharp, but the transition from one ice type to another, was gradual. Thus the freeze bond could maybe be called a freeze bond zone. The observed freeze bond zones had a thickness from a few millimeters up to about 30 mm.
Year: 2014